Denmark-based architecture firm Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects (SHL) has won a competition to design a new sports and culture campus in Aarhus, Denmark, as part of a big revitalisation plan of the Gellerup district. SHL's new educational complex will be engrated to this multi-use community project as a key component of the masterplan, which aims to attract more than 600,000 visitors annually with its variety of functions in the program.

A jury commissioned by Aarhus Kommune and Brabrand Boligforening selected Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects along with a collaborative team that includes MASU Planning ApS, Loop Architects and COWI A/S to design a new Sports and Culture Campus in Gellerup.

Located in a community in western Aarhus that is seeing an influx of redevelopment and revitalisation, the sprawling Gellerup Sports and Culture Campus will comprise a library, facilities for local residents, a playful activity house for circus, soccer, school and climbing - and potentially a unique public swimming pool.

Encompassing a total of 10,000-square-metre area, SHL's first images show that all educational buildings will include blurred and semi-transparent facades that feature different textures of materials, while the interiors are coated with wooden panels.

"When designing the campus, our intention was to create a welcoming place that is open and relevant for the local community, while also appealing to residents from across Aarhus and the world," said Trine Berthold, Associate Partner at Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects. 

"We hope to draw people into the campus's various elements with architecture that is rooted in the local environment, but also speaks to an international audience."

Located in the western part of Aarhus Kommune, Gellerup is the city's most culturally diverse district with residents relocating to the neighbourhood from all corners of the globe. The Gellerup Sports and Culture Campus is a part of the city's ambitious master plan, a project aimed at improving the quality of life and safety in the area in collaboration with the community's residents.

"The winning proposal presented an inviting building structure that breaks up the city's existing boxy grid with an open, flowing layout that strengthens community ties, neighbourhood democracy and cohesion," added the studio.

"The architecture supports openness and creates space for people to meet each other by overlapping buildings and spaces in an intuitive way."

"In a community as diverse as Gellerup, it is important that the new campus be a democratic place that is friendly, unpretentious and easy to move through so that it encourages use by every member of the district and interaction between people of all walks of life," added Berthold.

The winning team, selected after a competition that also included Danish architectural firms 3XN and CEBRA, will now begin work to develop a detailed design. Work on-site is planned to begin in early 2018, with completion of the project is expected to complete in 2021.

Schmidt Hammer Lassen Architects, founded in 1986 by architects Morten Schmidt, Bjarne Hammer and John F. Lassen, is one of Scandinavia's most recognized and award-winning architectural practices. 

SHL has offices in Copenhagen, Aarhus and China. The studio's CaoHeJing Guigu Creative Headquarters is now under construction in Shanghai. SHL is currently working on its first US project, the Monroe Blocks, a major mixed-use development will be built in the heart of downtown Detroit.

All images © SHL

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